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Black Lives & the Futility of Online Activism
How digital spaces reinforce racial inequality
“If we do not know how to meaningfully talk about racism, our actions will move in misleading directions.”
Angela Davis, Freedom is a Constant Struggle
“Networks do not eradicate power: they distribute it in different ways, shuffling hierarchies and producing new mechanisms of exclusion.”
Astra Taylor, The People’s Platform
In the US and around the world, the movement for Black lives, reignited by the murder of George Floyd, has inspired millions to sound the alarm on racial and systemic inequality. Some are fighting for Black lives through on-the-ground community organizing, others by way of donations, and others through advocacy — but because of the pandemic and thanks to the ubiquitousness of social media, most of the conversations (or at least “awareness building”) have overwhelmingly been happening online, though at this point, the awareness raising has simmered to all but a whisper.
Nonetheless, the Black Lives Movement, reminiscent of movements preceding it, has given us one of the most searing examples of performative activism amidst the pandemic. The movement has mutated into another form of self-flagellation where droves of people are seeking digital…
